Defence experts fear India will compromise on CTBT

Tara Shankar Sahay in New Delhi

The Bharatiya Janata Party-led government's
continuing silence over the recent
talks held in Frankfurt between
special envoy Jaswant Singh
and United States Deputy Secretary of State Strobe Talbott
has created doubts in
some defence circles that
India might
whittle down its position on
the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty.

While senior defence ministry officials are tight-lipped on
the matter, retired officials who
are now observers of the security scenario
say the government's silence is 'undesirable'.

An observer pointed out that India's
refusal to unconditionally sign on the dotted line had elicited
much admiration from Third World countries, many of them
arm-twisted
into signing the CTBT and Nuclear Non-Proliferation
Treaty. However, the Frankfurt
talks are still shrouded in secrecy, which
is causing misgivings in some
quarters.

"Even if there is a move by the
government for a new approach
regarding
the CTBT, it should be made
clear," he said.

The government is also
silent about the continuation of the
Jaswant-Talbott talks, scheduled to
resume in New Delhi on
July 20, the experts pointed out.

They said any
whittling down of India's CTBT stand
would open the 'floodgates' of Western pressure
which aims to cap
and roll back New Delhi's nuclear and
missile programmes.

Meanwhile, ministry of external affairs officials pointed out that
a US official's observations about China's
role in the security scenario in South Asia
indicated that the Clinton administration
was coming to
grip with realities. Despite US intelligence and media
reports about the Beijing-Islamabad nexus, Washington had thus
far chosen to turn a blind eye. However, as increasing evidence
surfaced, the Clinton administration has been
forced to take cognisance.

To usher peace and stability in the South
Asian region, the US have to ensure the
discontinuation of the Beijing-Islamabad nexus, the officials said.